Wow! Alex Finlay did it again! This is the third book I’ve read of his and it didn’t disappoint. If Something Happens To Me is a fast paced, action packed thriller with very solid plot twists. There’s a lot of characters to keep track of in this one but it works. They are all very well written and mostly lovable characters. The plot twists kept me guessing and had me hooked to the point where I didn’t want to put this book down for a moment. At this point Alex Finlay is an autobuy for me and quickly becoming a favorite author.

5,⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for If Something Happens To Me
Author: Alex Finlay
Release date: May 2024

This book will have you questioning everything!! It could easily be one of my favorite books of the year.

After reading and loving Alex’s last book, I was incredibly excited when I got an email inviting me to read this advanced copy and review.

A girl goes missing, they think her boyfriend did it. Then they find out it was actually the first kill for a notorious serial killer, but there was never a body found, and the serial killer claimed all the other kills but denies hers. Is she alive and if so, where did she go. Her car is found in a river years later with two unknown men dead inside, who are they, and where is she? Elsewhere a very dangerous and power man loses his son to high school bullies. He seeks revenge in the school, bullies, and their families. Where will these two cases collide. Who is a love, who is missing, who is good, and who is bad.

This story is told from multiple point of views, There is a lot going on but it was never hard to keep everything straight. The story flowed really well and I couldn’t stop reading. I finished this one in a day.

You do not want to miss the latest heart stopping, keep you guessing, about to be the book of the summer from Alex Finlay!

#everybookisanewadventure #advancereadcopy #arc #mystery #thriller #mysterythriller #netgalley #girlswhoread #booklovers #bibliophile #kindle #paperwhite #kindlepaperwhite

Five years have passed and Ryan still remembers every detail of that night. The rain pouring down, The car door being ripped open, The blow he took to the head and finally the screams his girlfriend Ali made as she was being taken. Now five years later, Ryan is studying to be a lawyer with a new name and a jaded attitude. Never arrested but always suspected Ryan had to revamp his whole life after that dreadful night. He’s finally starting to move on with his life until he gets a phone call saying new evidence has been found. Will he finally be charged or will his innocence finally be proven once and for all?

I’m super glad I read the “official” synopsis of this book after I had finished the book because I went into this book blind and loved absolutely every second of it. So many twists, so many WTF moments and so much build up to a plot twist I didn’t predict. I requested this ARC based solely on the author and he did not disappoint. Multi POV that snakes its way together at the end to form a beautiful plot with everything tied together so nicely. I give this a 5⭐️! Highly recommend going in blind just because I feel like had I read the full synopsis first, it probably would’ve taken away at least a BIT of the suspense. (I kept mine vague intentionally) Definitely worth checking out when this releases in May!

This is a fun mystery thriller. Told from multiple pov the story is fun and engaging. Ya appropriate. Recommended to mystery readers for a fun read.

If something happens to me is a fast paced thriller surrounding a high school girl who goes missing & five years later, information become available that opens her case back up.

This book is hard for me to rate. I enjoyed the short chapters and the flow of the story. However, I thought there were too many POVs that made the story confusing. Also alot happened in this story without a lot of explanation, which made it seem less realistic. I thought this book was fine so splitting the stars down the middle with a 2.5 seems fair to me.

A Fun Ride

If Something Happens To Me is a fast-paced thriller about a missing girl presumed dead, a notorious crime boss, and a new sheriff in town trying to put the pieces together.

There are three primary narrators: Ryan, once accused of his girlfriend’s murder, and he is now on a law school trip in Italy. Poppy, a young war vet who returns home to Leavenworth, Kansas, to work as the deputy sheriff, and Shane, the head of a major crime syndicate in Philadelphia. A few additional POVs are mixed in.

How the narrators fit together is a bit of a puzzle, but seasoned thriller readers will most likely figure out how the pieces connect early on.

It is best to go in blind. The plot is a little over-the-top, and suspension of disbelief is required, but it is gripping and worth reading. I enjoyed this more than What Have We Done, but not as much as Every Last Fear and The Night Shift .

If Something Happens to Me has all the elements of a solid thriller: action, tension, suspense, and a bit of mystery. The pace is fast, fueled by twists and turns. Most of all, it is fun to read, and it saved me from falling into a reading rut.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press.

When I started this thriller I was enthralled. It opened with a great hook, it had excellent pacing, and I was drawn to all the different characters.

Unfortunately though, it lost momentum for me and the story had some plot holes that made it difficult for me to invest in the ending.

Thank you Netgalley & publisher for this e-arc of If Something Happens to Me: A Novel by Alex Finlay.

This is a thriller and suspense novel. 5*; one unique aspect is the mobster elements and many twists. (review below synopsis)

Synopsis: "For the past five years, Ryan Richardson has relived that terrible night. The car door ripping open. The crushing blow to the head. The hands yanking him from the vehicle. His girlfriend Ali’s piercing scream as she is taken.
With no trace of Ali or the car, a cloud of suspicion hangs over Ryan. But with no proof and a good lawyer, he’s never charged, though that doesn’t matter to the podcasters and internet trolls. Now, Ryan has changed his last name, and entered law school. He's put his past behind him.
Until, on a summer trip abroad to Italy with his law-school classmates, Ryan gets a call from his father: Ali's car has finally been found, submerged in a lake in his hometown. Inside are two dead men and a cryptic note with five words written on the envelope in Ali’s handwriting: If something happens to me…
Then, halfway around the world, the unthinkable happens: Ryan sees the man who has haunted his dreams since that night.
As Ryan races from the rolling hills of Tuscany, to a rural village in the UK, to the glittering streets of Paris in search of the truth, he has no idea that his salvation may lie with a young sheriff’s deputy in Kansas working her first case, and a mobster in Philadelphia who’s experienced tragedy of his own."

Things I liked:
1. Fast paced
2. The writing
3. The MCs

This story pulled me in quickly with likable MCs and many interconnected characters. I couldn't read fast enough to try and figure out who was guilty and who was not. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who likes a good twisty thriller. This one has mobs and legal elements as well. It is a great Psychological Crime Thriller.

Going in blind to this one was the best thing I could have done. A fast-paced thriller, unraveling mystery after mystery, Alex Finley does it again sucking you in from line one to the last. Always fun to buddy read with too.

• you can run, but you can’t hide •

👉🏼If something happens to me, please remember me as a kind & happy soul. 🤗

Excellent book that kept me on my toes! Murder, mobsters, and several povs made this a great read! I was surprised by every twist and turn.

This is the first Alex Finlay book I have read and it did not disappoint!

Pros: Totally thrilling. Short chapters that kept you on the edge of your seat.

Cons: multiple characters with a variety of identities were sometimes hard to follow.

This book tells the story of Shane O'Leary, "mob" type man and the havoc he wrecks across multiple states and multiple families. It tells the story of Michael Harper who works for Shane and goes to great lengths to protect his family. It tells the story of Ryan Richardson who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and who seeks answers to what happens that night. As the lives of all of those people crash together, secrets will emerge until you are left wondering how far one will go to protect those secrets.

This was the first book I’ve read by Alex Finley and it won’t be the last. Thank you to Netgally and Alex’s publishers for making it available as an ARC. I couldn’t put it down. I love when a book gives me a jaw dropping moment of surprise and there were a few times I gasped out loud. There were a lot of characters to keep track of but by the end I had them all straight. The mystery of how everything fit together kept me on my toes. The characters were strong and I enjoyed them all. There were a few moments where things came together a little too easily for the characters but I understand, this is fiction. I loved the mobsters and the normal people who ended up getting intertwined with them. Ryan was a great character who showed great strength during his struggles with maintaining his innocence. Poppy and her brother were a great addition to the story. I loved their bonds and the twists that developed as the story went on. Great book. 4⭐️

If I hadn't needed to be at work, I would've stayed up last night the way I did tonight, finishing this book. This may very well be my favorite book by this author. I've enjoyed all of their books so far and I have the feeling it's only going to continue on.

I enjoyed all the POVs immensely. And while one plot point in this book stood out to me as I completed each chapter, I still likes the reveal of it.

Without spoiling anything, seeing some of the characters just go through it and come out kicking butt was great. Seeing mobsters you can empathize with was something I didn't see coming. While all in all I was fine with the epilogue, there was one part that I felt just wasn't fair. Call me a softie, but I wanted a HEA for the character.

Alex Finlay is an absolute master of suspense thriller writing. “If Something Happens to Me” starts with a bang: on a Kansas lover’s lane, Allison and Ryan are saying their intimate goodbyes before going off to separate schools soon, when the doors open and Ryan gets pulled and knocked out, while Allison and the car go missing.

Five years later the action resumes again in Leavenworth, Kansas. Local suspicion forced Ryan to change his name and flee to law school in Washington, DC. Allison’s death was ascribed to a serial killer in the interim, but now Allison's car has been found in the lake, with two dead men in the front seats and her purse containing a book cipher titled “If something happens to me…”. On the case is new deputy sheriff Poppy McGee, recently discharged from the military police, whose brother went to school with Allison and whose dad was in the service with the sheriff. Ryan is currently in Italy with law school buddies and receiving “I know who you are” notes from a man he was told he must have hallucinated. Plus there’s another story — that of a mob boss in Philadelphia whose young son is being mercilessly bullied at school. Somehow that will fit into the narrative, but when?

Finlay builds a page-turning adventure where good guys finally win and the bad guys (who do horrible, gory stuff) get their due. I love Finlay’s writing and plots — I’ll be back for whatever he does next. 5 stars!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO No eye colors are described.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO Just some postcard perfect cypress trees in Italy.

Thank you to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for a free advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Finlay has done it again! I usually find that after their break out novel is so impressive, things go downhill after. This is not the case with Alex Finlay, or with If Something Happens to Me. He has created a book so infinitely readable that I read it in one day, forgoing sleep, because I just needed to know how it ends. You won’t be disappointed with this book.

Alex Finlay, writes a fast pace, engaging, and twisty thriller with “ If Something Happens to Me.” It tells the story of Ryan and Ali, and one fateful night when Ali was grabbed from their car. Now, five years later Ryan, is traveling and receives a phone call telling him that Ali’s car has been found with a note in her handwriting, if something happens to me…

And we are off! The story is told in multiple POV’s and moves quickly. The twists are intelligent, the story has the reader engaged and caring about our protagonists. There are a lot of moving parts but they all come together clearly and concisely. Although, the ending was rather predictable, it did not distract from the overall good storytelling.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this Advanced Reader’s Copy of If Something Happens to Me by Alex Finlay due to be released May 28, 2024.
I had already read The Night Shift, so I was really looking forward to this one.
Ryan Richardson lived with that awful night for five years – the car door opening, someone tearing him from the vehicle, and his girlfriend Ali being taken.
There is no trace of Ali, so Ryan is the main suspect. He has changed his name and tried to put the past behind him since he knows he is innocent.
Five years later, when Ryan is on a trip with his law school buddies, he receives a call that Ali’s car has been found in the lake. Ali is not in it, but two men are along with a note written in Ali’s handwriting – If something happens to me…
This book was fantastic – I read it in one day. It had so many twists and turns but was still easy to keep up with the characters. From FBI agents to small town sheriffs to mobsters – everyone was involved somehow.
It was definitely a 5-star read, and now I’ll have to go find the other Alex Finlay books I haven’t read yet – definitely put on your TBR list!
.#netgalley #alexfinlay #st.martinspress #ifsomethinghappenstome

This book I thoroughly enjoyed! I would highly recommend this to friends! The whole story with Ryan had me wanting more and anticipating twists and turns constantly. A solid thriller and one I will definitely be to acquire for my physical book shelf!!

This was a really entertaining and fast-paced thriller. I definitely enjoyed the various perspectives and timelines, though at times there was a lot going on. I thought the ending was very satisfying and would recommend this book to anyone who likes thrillers.

This is my second book read by Alex Finlay (first was Night Shift, which I absolutely LOVED) and it will not be my last. While multiple POVs sometimes confuse me, I found really liked it with this story. I think it helped to move the story along and to understand where all characters were coming from. I enjoyed the pace of the story and the characters were well thought out (whether I liked or hated them). This book had just the right amount of twists and reveals, really enjoyed it!

TW: bullying

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in an exchange for an honest review.